MM Leadership CALL TO ARMS SPEECH by Leader Maye A. Gutierrez

                                                           CALL TO ARMS SPEECH

                                                                    By: LEADER MAYE A. GUTIERREZ

Good evening.  My name is Maye Gutierrez.

Do you know that many Filipinos die unnecessarily because First Aid is not widely enough known? And that they die not because their accidents were fatal but merely because no one acted quickly enough to save them?

 According to a survey, more than 59% of 2,000 people are not confident trying to save a life.   And it is sad because "a life was wasted because somebody declined to save that life."

 Let me first define First Aid.  First aid is the primary care given to a person suffering a sudden illness or injury to prevent his condition from worsening and/or promote recovery. 

As a former flight attendant, I underwent a series of First Aid training which proved to be very important as I encountered numerous cases of illnesses on board the aircraft.  Knowing what to do in an emergency makes you look decisive and commanding and people will tend to value your presence more. Let me share to you some of what I've learned.

The first thing that I will talk about is CPR or cardio pulmonary resuscitation because it is the definitive life- saving procedure. What would you do if you see a person lying on the floor appearing to have no breathing and no pulse? What would be your first reaction?  Well, before you panic thinking that you are face to face with a dead person, the first thing that you ought to do is to shake him vigorously to make sure that he is not sleeping.  "Baka naman natutulog lang yung tao at nambubulabog ka pa".   Now, if he still doesn't wake up inspite of your "shake it off", then, that will be the time to do CPR which involves opening the airway and doing your favorite-- mouth to mouth.  You do it 2x  immediately followed by chest compression 30x.  Isn't it amazing to be pushing on someone's chest who you thought was dead just moments before and have them wake up? Wouldn't that be heroic?

 Second, how to stop bleeding?  Simple  --  Using a clean cloth, give direct pressure to the site until the bleeding stops. I am surprised to know that cases of nosebleeding is taken lightly by some.  Some mother's reactions can be, "Naku, anak, dali ka,  kumuha ka ng tissue… kasi baka mamantsahan ng dugo yang t-shirt mo."   Believe it or not, if unattended, one can die from a nosebleed.

Third, Chocking.   Imagine this…You have been wanting to propose marriage to the woman of your dreams.  You look at her, ready to pop up the question and you see her grasping her throat and cannot breathe. It is because a chunk of sirloin steak which both of you just had for dinner is blocking her airway.  What do you?   Of course, it pays to know how to do abdominal thrust.  Hopefully the pressure can expel the sirloin steak, thus increasing your chance of having her say "yes" to your marriage proposal. Ika nga, "totoong, may forever."

Fourth, the beauty of witnessing childbirth. How many times has childbirth happened inflight?  A lot.  It can be described as messy, yet, it can be one of the most fascinating experiences you can have. It is because you didn't only save a life, you helped bring life to the world.  In childbirth, you don't actually do anything because whether you like it or not, the baby is coming out.  All you have to do, is to find a decent and safe place for the mother to give birth to. And of course, to make sure that baby junior won't drop off to the ground as he is born.  If you are able to do this, then you can truly be called a Hero.

  Why do I tell you this?  It is because during an accident or catastrophe, we may not have anybody to rely to except ourselves. Everybody is aware of the Big One or the earthquake magnitude 7 to hit Manila anytime during our lifetime.  A considerable amount of time or days or weeks may pass before help arrives. But with our knowhow, professional help can still be rendered to the survivors in time.  If injuries are not treated as fast as possible, even the quickest, most sophisticated emergency service in the world will arrive on the scene only to certify death.

My advocacy is for everybody to learn how to administer First Aid. The likelihood of an injured person living or dying depends on the timeliness of these lifesaving actions.  The odds of survival are greatly increased if bystanders quickly begin applying first aid rather than taking "selfies or groufies"on location, which sad to say, rather happens most of the time. Although first aid is not a replacement for emergency services, it can still reduce the severity of the injuries and improves the chances of survival.

I chose this topic because I believe, that you, too can be a HERO. .  A REAL HERO who can put his own life on the line to save another.  It is a sacrifice of the highest order because though we are not paramedics, we are doing something outside of our expertise in the heat of the moment to save a life.

First Aid is a humanitarian act that should be accessible to all.  With this skill, we become empowered to save lives and ultimately become a HERO in our own little way.  EVERYBODY CAN BE A HERO.